The present invention relates to carrying apparatus and more specifically to carrier apparatus for a packhorse.
People have long recognized the utility of horses and mules for carrying or transporting articles over rough terrain unaccessible to vehicles. Of course, it is necessary to provide appropriate apparatus for retaining the cargo or articles on the horse. Accordingly, in addition to simply strapping or tying the articles on the horse's back, numerous specialized container apparatus have been developed for particular purposes. For example, the U.S. Pat. Nos. issued to J. Anderson, No. 437,673; W. Pembroke, No. 495,908; and J. Smoot, No. 554,843, all disclose the general concept of cabinet-like containers in the form of saddle bags which can be suspended on opposite sides of a pack animal for carrying medical supplies and the like. Typically, these devices employ a leather outer casing which contains metallic canisters or the like, some of which also utilize side-opening drawers or doors. U.S. Pat. No. 112,819 issued to A. Leslie, and U.S. Pat. No. 321,152 issued to J. Stephens, also disclose saddlebags in the concept of pairs of cargo containers cabinets for horse mounting and having hinged access openings.
The C. Little et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,978 discloses a novel rack apparatus for suspending a plurality of bulky items over the back of an animal for balanced suspension, each segment of the rack being interconnectable via a hook arrangement. The British Pat. No. 502,403 issued to A. Hellemaa also discloses a pair of heavy cargo suspending hook apparatus adapted for carrying military hardware, including a yoke assembly interconnectable over the back of the animal for balanced cargo suspension. This patent also discloses somewhat contoured side padding which conforms to the sides of the animal. The French Pat. No. 1,090,075 is also of some interest in that it appears to show a frame-like structure for a saddlebag configuration.
While several of the prior art patents discussed above disclose compartmentalized saddlebags for carrying a limited supply of small articles, and the Little and Hellemaa patents disclose devices for suspending large, bulky objects over the back of an animal, there exists a need for enclosed apparatus of larger capacity for carrying the modern needs and requirements of campers and recreational packers in a convenient, easily accessible manner that can also serve the needs of working surfaces and tables for preparing and serving food, writing surfaces and other requirements.